Child&#39;s garment



Dec. 13, 1938. v L. sTEPHENsoN CHILD S GARMENT Filed Feb. s,` 1957 Patented Dec. 13,l 1938 CHILDS GARMENT y Verne L. Stephenson, Goshen, Ind., assignol; to

Snuggle Rug Company, Goshen, lnd., a corporation of Indiana.

Application February 3, 1937, Serial No. 123,788

' 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-80) The invention relates to improvements in outer garments for children and more particularly to childrens garments of the union type.

Garments of the above general character, while made in numerous styles for both indoor and outdoor wear, are particularly suitable as wint-er garments for young children. When well' made of good quality material, such garments are capable of giving satisfactory service through several seasons before the material becomes worn out. As a general thing, however, a garment that fits the child properly and presents a neat, attractive appearance initially, is outgrown long before the full wear is obtained from the garment. v

With the foregoing in view, it is the primary object of the invention to provide'a childs union type garment which may be readily adjusted as the child grows so as to t properly initially and throughout the life of the garment.

Another object is to provide an improved union garment which may be easily and quickly put on over the chlds ordinary clothing.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of a garment embodying the features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top view ofthe garment shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. l showing the construction at the waist band.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3, but

showing the garment adjusted to maximum size. i

Fig. 5 is a sectional View similar to Fig. 3, but showing a modified form of construction.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line of Fig. 3 showing the manner of attaching the belt loops.

The garment selected to illustrate the invention is of the so called ski suit or snow suit type designed for outdoor wear and includes a body portion and a legging portion joined together at the waist line. It may be made of any suitable material such as heavy wool or part wool fabric which provides the desired warmth, and it may be lined with a closely woven fabric to render it windproof. Such garments `may be worn by either children or adults, but are most commonly used for children below the teen age.

As garments of the above type are designed to be worn over the ordinary clothing, they must be provided with relatively large openings so that they can be put o n and taken'ofl. without too much difilculty. Heretofore, it has been the practice to provide an opening for this purpose in the form of a slit extending longitudinally of the a body portion of the garment, usually down the ent invention, this longitudinal slitis dispensed with and suitable transverse openings are -provided in the shoulder portions and the crotch so that the garment may be readily put on or taken oif by slipping it over the head or the feet ofthe child. Alternatively. a comparatively short slit maybe provided in the front of the garment, for example, a slit terminating at a point substantially above the'waist line which, in conjunction with the crotch opening, .permits the garment to be put on or taken oil as above explained.

, It will be apparent that, with the openings in the garment arranged in the above manner, the body portion arid the upper part of the legging portion may be madercontinuous and joined together at the waist line by a seam` extending entirely around the garment and unbroken by any longitudinal opening. Advantage is taken of this arrangement to provide a fold or lap of material at the seam which may be utilized subsev quently to lengthen the garment when desired.

Thus, by reason of the ladvantageous arrangement of the openings, the body and legging portions of the garment may be joined together in a novel manner to provide a garment which may be readily adjusted to t a child properly at varying stages of growth so `that full wear may be obtained from the garment.

As will be seen by reference to the drawing, the garment, in its preferred form comprises a continuous body portion I0 having sleeves II and I2 and a legging portion I3 having legs I 3B and Il. The arms II and I2 may conveniently terminate in cuffs I5 of knitted or other flexible fabric for snugly embracing the wrists or adjacent parts oi' the arm. Similar cuffs I6 on the legs I3a and I4 provide a tight fit around the angles.

Suitable openingsy`- are provided in the body portion II) to permit the garment to be put on by slipping it over the childs feet. In the particular form illustrated, these openings comprise slits I1 and I8 in the' arms II and I2, respectively, the slits extending from the neck of the garment across the shoulders and down the arms approximately to the cuffs I5. Alternatively, a single opening extending down the front of the garment may be provided in place of the slits I1 and I8, such opening terminating at a point substantially above the waist line. Any suitable means such as slide fasteners I 9 may be used to close the openings.

The garment may include a collar 20 of any suitable type. As herein shown, the collar 20 comprises a front section 2| and a rear section 22 attached respectively to the front and back panels of the garment as defined by the slits I1 and I8,- the two sections together extending entirely around the neck. To provide a snug ",t 4vand yet permit the collar sections to be separated when the garment is put on or taken ofi, the sections may be detachably fastened together at the ends as by buttons 23 which, in the present instance are sewed to the rear section 22 and adapted to cooperate in suitable button holes 24 formed in the front section 2l.

As it is sometimes desirable to put on the garment by slipping it over the childs head, a suitable opening may be provided in the legging portion I3 for this purpose. This opening is preferably in the form of'a slit 25 extending from .thecuff` IB of the leg I4 up along the inner side of the leg, through the crotch, and down the inner side of the leg Iiia and its cuff I6. Any suitable means may be employed for closing the slit. A slide fastener 26 of the so called open type has been found to be particularly suitable for this purpose as it permits the edges of both cuffs to be separated thus making it a simple matter to `put on or take off the garment. When the legvopening above described is used, it is desirable to retain the sleeve openings I1 and I8 to assist in getting the childs arms into the sleeves.

With the construction above described it is unnecessary to provide an opening extending across the waist line of the garment such as has heretofore been the usual practice. Accordingly, the body and legging portions may be made in a continuous piece at the Waist line so that they may be joined together by an unbroken seam`2`I extending entirely around the garment.

In the manufacture of the garments, the body portion I0 or the legging portion I3 is made substantially longer than required for the initial size of the completed garment. For'. example, in the case of a size 6 garment, that is, a garment designed to t the average six-year old child,

one of the parts may be suciently long for a size '7 or even a size 8 garment. The parts are assembled initially by arranging the legging portion and the body portion in overlapping relation and sewing them together by a row of stitching 28 adjacentthe edge of the normal length portion but spaced a predetermined distance inwardly from the edge of the oversize portion. 'Ihe spacing of the seam from the edge of the oversize portion is determined by the length required for a sizel garment, that is, the seam is made at the point where the said oversize portion would end if cut exactly to size 6 length. Thus, when the parts are sewed together, a strip of material 29 extends beyond the seam 21 and is available for lengthening the garment when desired.

As will be seen by reference to Fig. 3, the

upper edge of the fabric forming the legging portion I3 is turned in as at 3i! so as to lie along the outsideof the fabric forming the body portion I0 and the stitching 2t passes through both layers of fabric. Thus, the stitching is not apparent from the outside of the garment and the strip 29 is inside where it does not show.

The garment may also be provided with a belt 3| of any suitable type held in place by loops 32 which may"be made of the same material as the main part of the garment. As herein shown, the loops are sewed to the garment, one end being interposed between the edge 30 and the flap 29` as shown in Fig. 6 so as to be held in place by the stitching 28, the other end being stitched to the body portion as at 33 at a point substantially above the seam 21.

When the garment is to be lengthened, the

stitching 28 is removed by cutting or otherwise and the turned in edge 30 is reseWed to the flap 29. 1f maximum length is desired, the new seam will be made close to the lower edge of the flap as -shown in Fig. 4. For intermediate lengths, the seam may be made at points suitably -removedfrom the edge of the flap according to the length desired. The belt loops 32 are also removed and resewed to the garment in the same relative position as before so that the belt serves to cover the newly exposed portion of the fabric which previously constituted the flap 29. This is Vparticularly important when the garment is lengthened after a substantial amount of wear as the color of the newly exposed fabric will naturally differ slightly from that of the rest of the garment. Thus, the belt 3l eiectually covers the area presented by the new material so that the variation in color will not be noticeable. I y

In the modied form shown in Fig. 5,'the upper edge 3d of the legging portion is turned in to correspond in length to the flap 2Q and the parts are secured together along their edges by stitching 35. A second row of stitching 36 joins the parts at a point spaced substantially in from the edge and delnes the initial seam between the body and Alegging portions of the garment. In this case, the belt loops 32 are attached to the garment at their lower ends by the stitching 36.

When the garment is to be lengthened, the stitching 36 is cut leaving the 'stitching 35 to joinY the parts together. Intermediate sizes maybe obtained, of course, by resewing at points intermediate the stitching 35 and the stitching 36. After each adjustment, the position of the belt loops 32 is altered as above described.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the invention provides a novel and useful union type garment for children. By reason of the advantageous arrangement of the openings in the sleeves andI legs, the body and legging portions of the garment may be joined in an advantageous manner which permits lengthening the garment when required. Thus the garment may be made to nt snugly initially and may be adjusted from time-to-'time as the child grows so as to t properly throughout the life of the garment.

I claim as my invention:

l A childs outer garment including a waist section, said waist section having a neck opening and sleeves terminating in cuffs of flexible material with slits in each sleeve extending outwardly from the neck opening and along the tops of the sleeves to facilitate insertion of the childs arms in the sleeves, said waist section being continuous across the front and back and having means for closing said slits, collar members attached to the front and rear edges of the neck opening and detachably secured together at their ends in alinement with the inner ends of said slits, and a trouser section joined to said waist section by an uninterrupted seam extending around the garment at the waist line and providing an extension portion of surplus material for lengthening the garmentnsaid trouser section having an opening for slipping the garment over the childs head comprising a slit extending through the crotch and down the inner side of each leg and means for closing said last mentioned slit,

L. STEPHENSON. 

